To change the look (and texture) of our pasta, the solution is often right in front of our eyes: breadcrumbs! Our inspiration comes from Sicily – and more precisely, from Sicilian pasta ca'muddica.
Heading up the Catania Plain along the Dittaino Valley towards Enna, you’ll find what in ancient times was (together with Egypt), the “granary” of Rome. But the intuition of Sicilian peasant cuisine can be applied to a large number of recipes even now. For example, breadcrumbs are usually added when once the pasta sauce has finished cooking, so that the breadcrumbs will be slightly toasted. You can also toast them separately or add them raw to the dish. The only precaution? Avoid the breadcrumbs absorbing too much oil and sauce in general, so that it doesn’t dry out the dish too much. That’s why it’s better to use breadcrumsb only with very liquidy sauces or with sauces that have a lot of oil, to avoid drying the pasta out. It’s also best to use breadcrumbs with long pasta varieties. So, without further ado, here are our 10 ideas for seasoning pasta with breadcrumbs. Starting, of course, with the original.
Bucatini ca'muddica
This dish is simply prepared with a sauté of garlic and red chili pepper in abundance of extra-virgin olive oil, followed by the addition of tomato pulp, anchovy fillets, chopped parsley and a ladleful of cooking water. Toast the breadcrumbs separately (called ‘muddica atturrata’ in dialect) with a little oil. Add them at the end with grated pecorino cheese. There’s also another version of this recipe with capers, in addition to the version with cherry tomatoes instead of tomato pulp.
Spaghetti with garlic, oil, red pepper and breadcrumbs
This is the tomato-free version of the Sicilian recipe, which can also be prepared without anchovies. The breadcrumbs, in this case, can be browned directly in the pan with oil and garlic, just before throwing the spaghetti into the pan for a final stir.
Linguine with mackerel and breadcrumbs
You can use both fresh fish fillets and mackerel in oil: Just add them to the tomato sauce. For this recipe, the breadcrumbs should be toasted separately in a drop of extra-virgin olive oil and then added to the pasta together with chopped parsley (after sautéing it in a pan).
Spaghetti with garlic, sundried tomatoes and breadcrumbs
This recipe requires that the sundried tomatoes are chopped then roasted with the breadcrumbs. The garlic should be browned separately in oil. The two sauces should be mixed only at the end, adding some cooking water and chopped basil to complete.
Spaghetti with tuna, olives and breadcrumbs
You can make this in a red or white sauce version. There’s also another variant on the recipe with chopped sundried tomatoes.
Penne with artichokes and breadcrumbs
This time, the garlic is replaced by the onion: You can also use short pasta, further reinforcing the flavors by adding black olives.
Tagliatelle with tuna, bottarga and breadcrumbs
The first step is making a simple tomato-based sauce, with the addition of tuna. The breadcrumbs are mixed into the sauce one minute before the end of cooking. Add the bottarga last with some chopped parsley.
Penne with eggplant, tomato and breadcrumbs
Here too, breadcrumbs must be added after the eggplant sauce has been cooked. And they should be added toasted, in order to give it that pleasant crunchiness.
Bucatini c'anciova and muddica
According to tradition, this dish was born from Sicilian emigrants in Northern Italy as an alternative to pasta with sardines: Ca'muddica pasta with a greater quantity of anchovies and the addition of raisins and pine nuts.
Spaghetti with mussels and breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs can be the ideal element to attract the taste of the mussels’ cooking water, whether you use a white sauce or a red sauce with tomato.